How do we know an oil with PAO or Moly for instance "exceeds" the approvals? How do we know what criteria is used to quantify "exceeds?"
Same goes for Pennzoil products. They maintained approvals yet people here jumped off the bandwagon because of the loss of Moly; Now Valvoline is the new Moly darling. All the while, the same approvals are being met.
We don't, because there is zero transparency and the only tests done by the general public are worthless (PF, 540Rat, etc.). In some ways, the entire forum is an exercise in speculation. Especially when we come to oils like boutique and race oils that are not even covered by approvals. I get that testing in an actual engine and tearing it down is expensive, but it would be nice if the major players disclosed actual data. If we had that, there would be no need to speculate based on an incomplete picture.
The follow-up question could be, why does anyone care if the oils meet the standards? I am sure for the most part it doesn't matter, but there are situations like track use or slightly flawed engines where perhaps it could.